Deep in a beautiful hill-town of southern India in the mid-1900s lives Raman, the son of an illiterate woodcutter. More than anything, Raman dreams of buying the beautiful book under a glass case in the marketplace and of one day becoming a scholar. His dreams come crashing down when his family faces hard times. Raman is forced to leave school and instead gather pinecones in the hills to sell for firewood. An unexpected turn of events gives Raman hope and sends him into the hills in search of something other than pinecones. Beautiful description and exciting plot are combined with profound messages about family, education, hard work, persistence, honesty, and sacrifice.